More SWAT-type raids on nonviolent charges

And they could have picked up David Koresh on any of his innumerable trips into town, but the needed a dog and pony show to look good at the next budget meeting so they raided the compound at Waco. The LEA's seem to have long since discarded that "Serve and Protect" thing, not to mention all common sense. But where's the fun in just driving up in a squad car, when you can get dressed up in all that neat gear and do your Rambo thing?

I think some it is was fallout from the "peace dividend" when the Feds passed out a lot of surplus military type equipment in the early 90s after the fall of the USSR.

That simply whetted the local cops' appetite for ever bigger and better stuff. Plus, I think the feds still pass out grant $$$ for purchasing this type of gear.

It's a hammer-and-nail issue, isn't it?

It starts with rationalizing more budget expenses with, "Other Federal Departments have SWAT Teams, so we need one, too." Then they gen up all their little issues so it looks like one big one and become annoying whiners until Congress gives them the money just to get rid of them.

Then after all the money spent on equipment and administrative support staff they have to use it, because if government doesn't do SOMETHING it has no value. There's no restraint once the SWAT team is created.

The problem with the Federal budget isn't the lack of money, it's the lack of restraint. There's no restraint built into the system. The only "restraint" left is voter rebellion, which won't happen peacefully due to a diverse electorate that's a majority of Tax-Eaters instead of Tax Earners.

Repeal the Income Tax Amendment and force the issue? Good luck getting that Constitutional Amendment through Congress...

I lost all respect for swat teams after the school shootings in Columbine. How many of those kids could have been saved from bleeding to death while these armour clad yahoos hid behind walls and cars for hours on end? If they are going to take cover when they arrive on the scene, they could just show up in their pajamas. Why waste money on all that kevlar? The real meaning of the acronim? Sissies With Army Toys.

"Sissies With Army Toys"

I think he just won the internets.

Wait a minute. These SWAT teams are really good at killing innocent armed people, like that vet. It is only if the suspect is guilty, and might actually shoot back, that they turn into wimps.

Education loan fraud and cockfighting...no way either one of those needs anything more than one squad car with two cops, but you could send a second for backup if you have reason to believe there will be more folks involved than two could handle.
Whatever happened to "one riot, one Ranger?"

When did the average joe become GIJoe (tm), an Army of one, needing a swat team to carry out a simple arrest?

What happened to common sense, and what Judge in their right mind would send a SWAT team to a house with children, to beat down the door for something that is a white collar, non-violent crime? What reason did they have to presume she'd even be there without setting up some kind of surveillance, which would have revealed the fact that it was a home with kids?

The LEO in charge and the judge should both be sent to prison for criminal stupidity, and placed in the General Population there.

Steven Segal was at one of the raids? I don't like shows like Cops anyway, they always put in the disclaimer and they blur the faces but I don't think it's appropriate for entertainment shows to be on hand during such activities. It provides temptation for the cops to play to the cameras and not simply do their job.

I stopped watching police shows, "reality" as well as fiction, many many years ago once I realized that they aren't on television to educate. Their only reason for existence is to sell beer or tampons, and when sales drop the shows disappear from your screen.

Sad thing is; too many LEOs buy into the Rambo hype.

[W3]